Time is precious — use it wisely,
“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Because when you give your time you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.”
Rick Warren
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: time is precious. We all have limited time in our day, so what are you doing with yours?
In this blog post, I’m going to talk about time and how you can use it wisely.
We all know that time is money. That means you need to be smart with your time so you can spend it doing the things you love.
But what does “time is precious” really mean?
How can you make the most of your time?
And most importantly, how can you make sure you’re using your time efficiently?
While time management tools can help you manage your time more efficiently, you still need to understand how to make your time work for you. In this article, I share several time management strategies that you can implement right now to use your time wisely.
The Value of Time – Eternity
The value of free time.
According to a study from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, most Americans don’t even realize they’re spending hours every week doing something they hate.
That’s why you need to use your free time in a way that makes you feel productive.
Free time is one of the most valuable resources we have. Most people, however, don’t realize how important it is to have free time.
When I’m on a conference call, for example, I’ll often ask myself, “Do I really need to be on this call? Couldn’t I just call this person back later?”
In fact, I often do just that, because I’m so busy that I don’t have enough time to do the things I need to do.
What’s worse is that some people seem to have an expectation that they should always be available for business. When you become a manager, for example, you’re expected to be available to your team at all times.
That doesn’t work well for everyone. Some people prefer to work from home, and others work best in the morning or at night.
If you’re a freelancer or consultant, for example, you may have to be available around the clock.
It’s not easy to carve out time to do the things you need to do.
That’s why it’s important to be realistic about your own needs.
Think about your priorities and set aside time to do the things you love.
What to Do Instead – Time Management
So how can you stop wasting your time?
Well, you need to first identify what you’re doing that’s wasting your time. Then you need to figure out how you’re going to change the situation.
For example, if you’re spending too much time on social media or watching YouTube videos, the best thing you can do is to start spending less time on those platforms.
If you’re reading articles or watching videos, you need to figure out which ones are useful for you, and you need to stop wasting your time on the rest.
Perhaps the issue is simply a time management challenge. Let me introduce you to the ‘Pomodoro Technique’ or method:
The Pomodoro Time Management Method
What to do instead…time management.
1. Use the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a method used to focus on a single task for a certain length of time (usually 25–45 minutes). It has been used for decades by people who find it difficult to focus, yet is relatively new to the world of business.
According to an article in Entrepreneur Magazine, the technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in 1975. It was first used in Italy, and now is practiced in over 120 countries.
The basic principle is simple. You work for a set period of time, taking breaks when you feel like you’ve accomplished enough to be able to focus on another task.
After a while you can work longer periods of time. It is a good method of time management because you won’t get distracted by other tasks that come up during your break.
One caveat, however: if you have an extremely distracting task that takes more than a Pomodoro session to complete, then it is better to complete the task as quickly as possible than it is to use Pomodoros.
2. Find Your Focus
You’ll need to determine what your biggest focus areas are.
What are your biggest priorities?
What are your weaknesses?
What are your strengths?
Once you figure out the answer to these questions, you’ll be able to better plan how you spend your time.
3. Know Your Productivity Numbers
Productivity is not just a function of time spent; it is also a function of output. If you produce a lot of output, you are probably being productive.
If you have the habit of producing lots of content, but it is not as valuable as it could be, then you should try to focus on becoming more efficient at producing content.
If, on the other hand, you are only creating average content and no one seems to like it, then you might have to change what you are doing.
4. Develop a System
While this sounds like a cliché, having a system for your time management can actually help you to manage your time better.
Once you’ve effectively have learned how to time management successfully, and stop wasting valuable time, you’ll realize that your life will feel so much better.
40 Time is Precious Quotes & Sayings
The day you respect time, is the day you are about to become successful in your life. So, to help you realize that time is so precious and we should not waste it, I present these ‘cherry-picked’ 40 quotes and sayings:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Steve Jobs
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
Jim Rohn
“Time is the most precious element of human existence. The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time.”
Denis Waitley
“Lost time is never found again.”
Benjamin Franklin
“Time is the most precious element of human existence.”
Denis Waitley
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“For those who love… time is eternity.”
Henry Van Dyke
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Steve Jobs
“Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future does not come, and the present becomes the past, even while we attempt to define it.”
Charles Caleb Colton
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
Albert Einstein
“It’s difficult dating, as an actor because your free time is precious. The guy I end up with someday is going to have to love traveling.”
Serinda Swan
“Follow your heart, Ithilnin,” Albirich repeated. “Time is precious. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Jess C Scott
“Reading time is precious. Don’t waste it. Reading bad books, or books that are wrong for a certain time in your life, can dangerously turn you off the activity altogether.”
Lionel Shriver
“Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.”
Benjamin Disraeli
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”
Henry Van Dyke
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
Charles Darwin
“Everything matters. Time is precious.”
Jessica Hagedorn
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Time is: Too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear.”
Henry Van Dyke
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
Steve Jobs
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
Auguste Rodin
“When you are doing one thing – talking on your phone, texting, whatever – you are automatically not doing something else. What is the greatest scarcity in the world today? It’s not oil. It’s time. Time is precious. Don’t throw it away.”
Martin Cooper
“But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.”
Benjamin Disraeli
“If time is precious, no book that will not improve by repeated readings deserves to be read at all.”
Thomas Carlyle
“Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
Steve Jobs
“The trouble is, you think you have time.”
Buddha
“Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.”
Margaret Peters
“Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what’s real.”
Sara Paddison
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
Sam Levenson
“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
M. Scott Peck
“All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.”
Baltasar Gracian
“You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”
Charles Buxton
“The way we spend our time defines who we are.”
Jonathan Estrin
“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.”
Michael LeBoeuf
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
Bruce Lee
“Be selective with who you invest your time, wasted time is worse than wasted money.”
Anonymous
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
C.S. Lewis
“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.”
Thomas Hardy
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Teresa
“Time is very slow for those who wait. Very fast for those who are scared. Very long for those who celebrate. But for those who love, time is eternal.”
William Shakespeare
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”
Harvey MacKay
The Bottom Line…
Appreciating the value of precious time.
The most important thing about time is that it’s finite. There is only so much time in a day, week, month, year, decade, etc. It’s up to us on how we decide how we spend it. I hope this article has given you pause to reflect and provide you with inspiring ways on how YOU can make the most of your time in any one given day and discover the joy of being more positively productive and in turn, more satisfied and happier in your life.
